The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have been invited to meet with top European Union officials on Thursday to try to breathe life into talks aimed at normalizing their relations, just as the 27-nation bloc’s leaders gather in Brussels for a two-day summit.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti are not expected to meet face to face, but the aim is to push forward with new “proposals and ideas” floated in exploratory talks last weekend, said Peter Stano, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Fears are high of a resumption of the violence that has characterized their ties since Kosovo unilaterally broke away from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade has never recognized the move. The EU, through Borrell, has supervised a “dialogue” between them to get things back on track.
The meetings, if they proceed, could be an important step forward, after about 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo on Sept. 24, killing a police officer and setting up barricades before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. Three gunmen were killed.
Apart from discussions with Borrell and the EU’s special envoy to the region, Miroslav Lajcak, Kurti and Vucic might hold talks with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.
The United States and the EU want Kosovo and Serbia to implement a 10-point plan put forward by Borrell in February to end months of political crises. Kurti and Vucic gave their approval at the time, but with some reservations.
Stano underlined that the exploratory talks in the region over the weekend were aimed solely at finding a way to bring that agreement into effect, and that “there is no intention to replace it.”
